Jose Mourinho lightens up as Chelsea back on track

Jose Mourinho clearly feels Chelsea are at the end of a crisis because, at the conclusion of his press conference yesterday, he stood there willing to engage in a bit of fun about who should replace Gary Neville as Sky pundit.

“A good question. The Blues are the worst men [for this]. Not easy, huh... Dennis Wise!”

It was a very different Mourinho to the man under so much pressure a month ago that, when asked a similarly light-hearted question, tersely responded: “You don’t get any more from me funny headlines.”

At the moment, the headlines read a little better for Chelsea. “The best goalkeeper in the world” — as Mourinho describes Thibaut Courtois — is back after a three-month injury lay-off and set to start at home to Bournemouth today, with that only strengthening a defence that last week kept a third successive clean sheet for the first time this season.

The Chelsea manager feels that can be the trigger for a “strong December”, and a complete turnaround in the champions’ form.

The one caveat in all of this has been the usual controversy around Diego Costa. The striker’s temper rose when it became clear he would not be coming on during the 0-0 draw at Tottenham Hotspur last Sunday, with the way he petulantly threw his bib to the ground raising questions over his relationship with Mourinho and his future.

The manager insisted there is “no problem” with Costa and also revealed that he does treat him a little differently to the rest of the squad precisely because of that “impulsive” personality.

When asked whether the Spanish international’s character makes him a “special case”, Mourinho responded: “I would say a bit, but not much.”

“Little things. He can be more impulsive. Not really [much]. Just a bit in a few details. But, in the end, rules are rules. Commitments are commitments. He’s the same. Tonight we meet to go to the hotel at 7.30pm. Because he’s Diego, he cannot report at 7.45pm. He has to be the same. He is just a good guy.”

Mourinho didn’t go into detail, but it is understood he has often felt the need to protect Costa from the most intense criticism of his abrasive play, and purposely praised him in such situations to indulge a personality that is more sensitive than often perceived.

That is perhaps why he didn’t react with fury to what could have been an embarrassing situation at Spurs, and some close to the club say it is in keeping with a more measured approach from Mourinho over the past few weeks. Realising the extent of the tension within the squad around the end of October, the Portuguese purposely sought meetings with some senior players to calmly hear them out and talk things through.

Along the same lines, Mourinho revealed that he took the rare step of showing Eden Hazard the detailed coaching report of the player’s performance against Spurs, because it was exactly what he wanted from him.

“His performance was good in every aspect. He got the feedback, even a written feedback because we analysed his performance in great detail, and I thought it was good for him to get it in a written document with graphics on every aspect. He knows how good he was. Hopefully he can build from now. The good is coming,” said Mourinho.

“The Premier League is crucial for us too, every point important because we want to finish top four. He knows how much we need him.”

Mourinho also feels the “good is coming” from Chelsea again.

“I have to be cautious because the Premier League is the Premier League, and you don’t know what’s waiting for you around the corner but the reality is the run was really bad and we were really strong as a club, as a technical staff, as a squad of players, to cope with that and try and go over it,” he said.

“Bad results, but with good performances, we kept our faith, stability, and belief. And then, finally, last week we got three positive results in a row. Let’s try and build on that. December can be a good month.”

The only way to start proving that is by beating Bournemouth today. Anything else and we might be quickly back to more negative headlines.